Wout van Aert sprinted to victory in stage eight of the Tour de France  with defending champion Tadej Pogacar holding on to the leader’s yellow jersey. Van Aert won on a late incline ahead of Australia’s pre-stage favorite Michael Matthews with Pogacar finishing in third. This was a second stage win for van Aert, who also finished second three times during the opening stages in Denmark, and extends his lead in the sprint points standings. Pogacar also took a four-second bonus for his third place and extends his overall lead on Jonas Vingegaard at the top of the rankings.

The peloton left Dole in the Jura region under a cloud Saturday morning after Frenchman Geoffrey Bouchard from the AG2R team and Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen from Pogacar’s UAE team tested positive for Covid and were withdrawn. But cowbell ringing roadside fans cheered the pack along the way to the Swiss border where they caught a glimpse of what is to come with the Alpine mountains rearing into view on the horizon.

An early fall caught Pogacar and third placed Geraint Thomas, while French climber Thibaut Pinot not only fell twice but also took a smack on the nose when a roadside food bag distributor got things badly wrong. Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen of the EF team will ride stage nine in the polka dot jersey again while Tom Pidcock of Ineos will wear the white under-26’s jersey albeit as second placed man behind Pogacar.

Sunday’s ninth stage runs from Aigle to Chatel le Portes du Soleil, an Alpine resort on the French-Swiss border, with over 25 mile of climbing on the 119 mile itinerary. It reaches a high point of 5800 feet at the Col de la Croix summit while a 9 mile six percent gradient challenge up the Pas de Morgins awaits any tired legs before the Tour re-enters France for the final 6 miles.

TOUR DE FRANCE 2022 NEWS

2022 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 8 RESULTS

1	Wout VAN AERT	Jumbo-Visma	4:13:06
2	Michael MATTHEWS	Team BikeExchange – Jayco	0:00
3	Tadej POGAČAR	UAE Team Emirates	0:00
4	Andreas KRON	Lotto Soudal	0:00
5	Alberto BETTIOL	EF Education-EasyPost	0:00
6	Aleksandr VLASOV	BORA – hansgrohe	0:00
7	Benjamin THOMAS	Cofidis	0:00
8	Jonas VINGEGAARD	Jumbo-Visma	0:00
9	Bob JUNGELS	AG2R Citroën Team	0:00
10	Thomas PIDCOCK	INEOS Grenadiers	0:00

OVERALL STANDINGS

1	Tadej POGAČAR	UAE Team Emirates	28:56:16
2	Jonas VINGEGAARD	Jumbo-Visma	0:39
3	Geraint THOMAS	INEOS Grenadiers	1:14
4	Adam YATES	INEOS Grenadiers	1:22
5	David GAUDU	Groupama – FDJ	1:35
6	Romain BARDET	Team DSM	1:36
7	Thomas PIDCOCK	INEOS Grenadiers	1:39
8	Neilson POWLESS	EF Education-EasyPost	1:41
9	Enric MAS	Movistar Team	1:47
10	Daniel MARTÍNEZ	INEOS Grenadiers	1:59

 

RBA/AFP Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency